Google TV Streamer 4K Review: Smooth Streaming

There are a fewer products successful our lives we privation to usage each the clip and ne'er person to deliberation about. Faucets travel to mind—you privation your faucet to crook connected and off, not leak. That’s astir it. Google’s caller Google TV Streamer is an Android-powered TV faucet that ne'er leaks. Once you log into your assorted accounts and commencement streaming, you hardly announcement it's there, but you'll person casual entree to each your favourite shows and movies. You tin adjacent usage the distant to power connected devices successful your home, like lights, speakers, and plugs.

Casting from phones is elemental and easy, and this caller $100 streaming device lacks the sometimes jittery show we saw connected last-generation devices similar the Google Chromecast and immoderate current-gen TVs powered by Google’s TV operating system. If you dislike your existent TV interface oregon privation to marque definite you’re streaming from well-maintained apps connected a instrumentality that supports Dolby Vision and a wired net connection, this is an fantabulous choice.

Simple Setup

The flat, cylindrical streaming instrumentality and its pill-shaped distant are astir arsenic plug-and-play arsenic things tin get, but it's worthy noting this plan is simply a melodramatic alteration from the Chromecasts of old. No longer does Google's TV dongle dangle disconnected the broadside of your TV. This Streamer is meant to beryllium displayed large and arrogant connected a media console.

There is simply a azygous HDMI 2.1 port, a USB C larboard for power, and an Ethernet larboard for wired internet. On the backmost adjacent to the ports, you’ll spot a tiny small fastener that tin marque the distant beep and uncover its location; my forgetful encephalon acknowledgment the engineers astatine Google for this. I privation the Streamer included an HDMI cable, arsenic I had to food 1 retired of my closet. This wasn't an contented with its predecessors, which had a built-in HDMI cable.

The distant is ample capable that you'll privation to find a cell-phone-sized level spot to enactment it—not the astir convenient happening ever but not the astir annoying either. The buttons aren't backlit, but they're casual capable to spot adjacent successful debased airy acknowledgment to grey-black substance connected a achromatic background. It’s a elemental layout with measurement buttons connected the close broadside of the distant for casual access, and the location fastener successful grey conscionable supra truthful you don’t accidentally property it successful the mediate of a movie.

Once you crook connected the Google TV Streamer, log successful to your Google accounts (and immoderate different streaming accounts you person these days) and you’re bully to go. You tin bash each this via the Google Home app if you don’t privation to usage the onscreen TV keyboard to participate passwords. I was watching Netflix successful nether 5 minutes. (It besides supports each the large apps, similar Max, Paramount+, Amazon Prime, and Pluto TV).

A Smart Home Controller

The Google TV Streamer tin enactment arsenic a smart location display to easy power lighting, information cameras, thermostats, and much if you person that worldly connected via Google Home. It pulls up a surface connected the close broadside of the TV screen, called the Home Panel, and it shows you what you person connected and allows you to power it. This acquisition is akin to the Home Panel connected the fastener surface of the Google Pixel Tablet oregon adjacent connected galore Android phones.

I’m not a smart-home guy; I usage a fewer Alexa speakers to acceptable alarms and play Spotify, but the remainder of my location is woefully unconnected. I asked chap WIRED reviewer and connected-home guru Nena Farrell to trial the astute location features for me, and she reported that they enactment precise well. Voice commands to Google Assistant are responsive, and she liked utilizing her TV surface for astute location control. She successfully utilized the distant to crook disconnected her lights adjacent erstwhile the TV was off. It tin besides beryllium utilized to show smart doorbells and cameras, thing WIRED exertion Julian Chokkattu says is precise handy, arsenic you tin cheque for question alerts without having to find your telephone successful the acheronian during movie night.